My kitchen condiment cupboard here in India as well as in the US is always well stocked with pickles of all brands (MTR, Ruchi, Mother's Recipe, mom and mom-in-law made) and all varieties (garlic, vadu manga [baby mangoes], mango thokku [grated or ground mango], lime, tomato, onion, chili, mixed vegetable). Every time I visit the grocery store, I can't resist reaching out into the pickle shelf and seeing what delicious flavor I've laid my fingers on this time. There's a pickle bottle in my basket no matter how many unused jars remain at home.
Nothing says 'Indian' better than pickle, but beware ye uninitiated, there are imposters roaming this world claiming to be the real deal. Soon after I moved to the US, the first time someone offered me pickle, I eagerly extended my plate and to my utter confusion found a slice of cucumber that looked it had been struck by a bad case of freezer burn and then had been left out to thaw. My enthusiasm crumbled under the weight of that unfulfilled anticipation. Of course, none of my non-Indian friends had a clue what I meant when I said pickle.
Just to give you an idea, here are the ingredients in a typical Indian pickle: the thing that is being pickled (mango, garlic, tomato, carrot, etc.), salt, gingely oil (oil made from sesame seeds), chilies, mustard, cumin, fenugreek, turmeric and asafoetida.
A couple of Thanksgivings ago I decided to try my own hand at pickle-making. Fresh homemade pickle. Just the thought was enough to get me to make a few calls and consult the experts – my mom, mom-in-law, and a friend who lives in Maryland. The result was cranberry pickle. Yes, that mainstay of Thanksgiving dinners, the one that is almost always consumed in a gooey, sugary, thick, treacley form, met its match in a heady mix of spices – chili powder, mustard powder, and salt.
The combination was deadly. The rich, crunchy, red berries, halved to open up more space to store the spices, tingled the palate as they made their way down, the tangy sweetness complementing the spicy hot, bitter, salty juices.
No matter what the flavor, in that spoonful of pickle lie many things: a whiff of home; some ingredient or the other that just about completes your meal; color that complements the rest of the things on your plate; a combination of tastes and smells that heighten your senses; the answer to your longing for home and plain old Indian food after days of working late and eating Chinese and pizza and pasta at your desk from the takeouts near your office.
There have been nights when I'd come back from work in the wee hours of the morning, head straight to the kitchen to put a pot of rice on the stove before changing, and with Conan O'Brien and infomercials for company, eat hot rice mixed with ghee and pickle followed by curd rice with mango pickle before going to bed, content in the knowledge that all was well with the world.
A spoonful of pickle, as they say, makes life go down easy.
Article comments
1 - Nancy
What's 'curd rice'? And please put in a recipe for the cranberrys; it sounds wonderful. I'm just starting to try Indian pickles, because many of them are too hot for me, but those that aren't I like very much - and you're right: they're a far cry from Western "pickles" which mainly involve vinegar & cucumbers.
Are there any paticular brands & types that are fairly mild (for a chicken-hearted American) that you can recommend, which I might be able to find in my local Asian foods suppliers? Thanks.
2 - sujatha
Hi Nancy, I was wondering about the curd rice reference and was thinking (as I fell asleep last night) that readers will assume it's bean curd. Shudder.
Curd is yogurt. Any non-flavored variety (i.e., "plain" yogurt) will do. Mix cooked and cooled rice with yogurt. The consistency should be somewhere between too thick and too watery, somewhat like oatmeal that's cooked and ready to eat. Add salt to taste. Garnish with a handful of chopped cilantro leaves.
As for pickles, try Priya's Mango Thokku, it's pretty mild. Patak's also makes pickles that are not as spicy. Of course, stay away from the chili pickle.
Here's the recipe for cranberry pickle. I've highlighted the ingredients so you can take the list to the Indian store:
1. Choose firm cranberries
2. Clean (chop off any dry ends near the stems) and dry them completely. There should be no water because water tends to rot the berries and the pickle will get spoilt.
3. Chop the berries into halves
4. Add salt, red chilli powder (paprika) to taste.
5. Add a dash of turmeric powder
6. Add 1 tsp of roasted fenugreek powder (methi powder)
7. Heat sesame seed oil (for 250 gms cranberries, 50 gms oil), add powdered asafoetida and 1 tsp mustard seeds.
8. Wait for the oil mixture to cool and add to the cranberry mix.
9. Enjoy! Try it with warm pita pockets and humus.
With the exception of the roasted fenugreek powder, you'll find everything ready to use at the Indian store. If you don't find the fenugreek powder, ask for the seeds (buy the smallest pack available), dry roast them until you can smell them (a darker shade of the golden brown they already are) and grind them at home.
3 - Nancy
Oh I've got all this stuff - including the hing. I love hing - great stuff, nice lingering aftertaste that, once you grow used to it, is highly addictive. I understand it's used as a digestive, too. Surprised? Most Americans apparently can't stand it. Thanks for the recipe; I'll try it in the near future, as I have a bag of fresh cranberries I need to use & I'm getting tired of the usual chopped cranberry-&-orange relish mix. Not sure I'd like the curd rice, tho, altho I love all the ingredients, but I'll bet it is nice & soothing. Is it a typical Indian comfort food? Thanks!
4 - sujatha
Wow! I am surprised! Very, very cool.
Yes, curd rice is comfort food for most people. It's used to cool down the digestive system (it comes at the end of the meal) after all that hot, spicy food. Traditionally, it's also tempered with the same stuff as for the pickle, except with regular vegetable oil, not sesame oil. But I don't temper it anymore just to control the amount of oil we eat. Perhaps it does take some getting used to, but can't tell since I grew up with it. Even my son who loves all manner of American food loves curd rice.
I had a whole bunch of recipes on my recipes blog, but it's down right now or else I'd have pointed you to it. Will let you know when it's fixed.
Good luck with all the cooking. :)
5 - Nancy
Thanks. I learned to cook Indian foods because what I got in the restaurants was a tad too hot for me. Not spicy: hot. I love the spices, but Indians tend to pile on those chili peppers & powder more than I can handle, & I admit it. My favorites are baigan bharta, sour spicy lentils or chickpeas, lamb biryani, mattar panir (I make my own cheese, Indian-style), samosas, dosas, dos piaza, anything in a coconut/ginger/coriander sauce, & aviyal. And of course the sweets like burfee & jalebis - altho I buy those like anyone in India. It's a pity the restaurants here tend to all serve the same dishes; Indian food is terrifically varied. Thanks again.